Help! I'm an expert weed grower

If only we could grow everything with the same ease that weeds grow in our gardens. It would make gardening so much more rewarding. But in actual fact, we’ve spoken to many people who find the job of weeding their gardens very rewarding. Yes, really (including this post writer)!

Perhaps it’s because it’s so satisfying to stand back and take in how great your garden looks when the weeds are removed. And doesn’t it feel great when the earth gives way, and you are left holding a complete root system? Plus you get a workout while you are doing it.

If you are someone who would rather not spend hours weeding, there are a few ways to make it less of a battle.

Prevention

To paraphrase Benjamin Franklin, an ounce of prevention is better than a cure when it comes to weeds. Preventing weeds from taking root will make life a lot easier than removing them.

Seeds can lay dormant in soil for a long time until conditions are just right for them to grow. Germination often occurs when the soil has been disturbed, perhaps by digging, raking, planting etc. So try to disturb your soil as little as possible.

Mulch is a powerful weapon in your weed prevention bag of tricks. You could use traditional mulches like pine bark or pea straw, or sheet mulch with cardboard or newspapers (although who reads newspapers these days?) Mulch prevents the seeds from accessing light, which is necessary for germination.

Grasses can become quite invasive if allowed into garden beds. Invest in edging to stop the runners spreading, and keep kikuya and couch lawn edges trimmed.

Don’t let weeds go to seed. Those beautiful, floaty dandelion seed heads can disburse thousands of seeds, and one gust of wind will give you a big headache in the future. (One year’s seeds, seven years weeds). If you’re busy and you haven’t got time to weed, at the very least pick the heads off the flowers as soon as they form and pop them in the bin (not in green waste).

Removing weeds

Hand weeding is highly labour intensive, but has minimal environmental impact (and as mentioned above can also be fun, rewarding and great for physical well being). To make the job a bit easier try these tips: 

• Weed after rain or watering when the soil is softer and the roots will be pulled out much easier

• Use a weeding fork to loosen soil so you can pull the whole root out more easily. Any root left behind will likely regrow

• Remove weeds early. Weeds will compete with your garden plants and take over if you let them so don’t give them that chance

• When you have pulled up your weeds, you can use them to make a weed tea. Soak in a bucket of water for a couple of months and then poor the nutrient rich liquid back onto your garden (diluted in a watering can in a ratio of 1:10)

• If you don’t want to hand pull weeds but don’t want to use chemicals, try pouring boiling water from your kettle onto the weed.

Use of herbicides (weedkillers)

Removal by hand can cause a great deal of soil disturbance so sometimes it’s better to use a herbicide. If you do decide to use herbicide, there’s a few things to note first.

• Try and choose the products that will have the least impact on the environment. We like to use Slasher, an organic weedkiller that works by dehydrating the plant

• It’s not always a case of one size fits all when it comes to choosing the product. Many herbicides will only target certain types of weeds and won’t work on others. So check that you are using the right spray

• If you are looking to kill weeds in your garden, you can buy a weed/feed type product but it’s important that you know the type of lawn you have otherwise you might end up with a dead lawn

• When you have sprayed your lawn, avoid walking on it afterwards so you don’t then spread the weedkiller to other parts of your garden

• When spraying, choose your moment. Don’t spray when it’s windy as overspray may affect other plants

• Using a watering can is better for preventing overspray/drift of the weedkiller than a hose on application

• If rain is forecast, give spraying a miss

• Protect surrounding plants by covering them with plastic.

A word about glyphosate

Glyphosate, the active ingredient in weedkillers such as Round Up or Zero, is controversial and there are differing opinions on whether it is safe to use, as well as numerous lawsuits against the company.

While research suggests that Glyphosate is not residual in the soil, other research suggests that the surfactants added to Glyphosate to make it easier for the plant to absorb the product are quite toxic to animals, fish and aquatic organisms. There is also some evidence that it has soil mobility, meaning that there is the potential for it to leach into waterways. If these chemicals find their way into our water systems it can lead to environmental damage.

While there is so much conflicting information regarding glyphosate and experts are unable to agree on the impact, it’s fair to say that we should all think twice before using chemicals and only spray as a last resort.

If you can’t beat them…

And for a different take on weeds, there are many people within our community who embrace weeds for their nutritional value and for their medicinal properties (always confirm the species first to make sure it is not toxic. If you’re not sure, leave it alone). Anyway, that’s a blog post for another day, but if you are sick of the fight against weeds, maybe cultivating them might be more your thing.